An Air Canada pilot fired last year for wishing Israel would “burn in hell” is seeking $160,000 from Conservative MP Mark Strahl, who called on the airline’s CEO to fire him. Now unemployed, Mostafa Ezzo says he feels he was defamed and is struggling to find work.
“Its purpose was to express political dissent against the actions of a state, not to target individuals on the basis of their religion or ethnicity,” reads a lawsuit filed against Conservative MP Mark Strahl in recent days at the Montreal courthouse.
It all began last October, just days after the start of the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
On the social network X, the StopAntisemitism account had first published photos of the pilot Mostafa Ezzo, who was seen in a demonstration with a placard which read in English “Adolf Hitler must be proud of Israel, a terrorist state”.
“Fuck you, Israel, burn in hell,” Mr. Ezzo also wrote on Instagram, relaying an invitation to a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Dorchester Square in Montreal. The pilot’s dismissal was then called for by several, including Conservative MP Mark Strahl, also a critic of the official opposition on transport.
“People of Jewish faith can no longer feel safe on flights with Mr. Ezzo in the cockpit. He must be fired. Today,” Strahl wrote in a letter to Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau that was made public online. The elected official also called for the employee’s removal from ALPA Canada, one of the country’s largest pilot unions.
Shortly after, the airline condemned the “unacceptable messages” of its pilot, before suspending him on October 9, denouncing “firmly any form of violence”. Mostafa Ezzo then lost his job permanently two days later, on October 11.
Considerable damage
The lawsuit, which targets only Mr. Strahl, claims that he was only seeking to “protest the treatment of the Palestinian people.” They are lawyers from Mr. Strahl’s law firm.e Julius Grey, a well-known human rights lawyer, who represents the pilot.
They essentially claim that their client “has neither engaged in hate speech nor made anti-Semitic statements” since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Since his firing, which he attributes directly to MP Strahl’s letter, the airline pilot says he has faced “substantial difficulties” in finding new employment. He believes his reputation has been “tarnished” by the MP’s “false and malicious” comments.
Mr. Ezzo estimates that his material damages are in the order of $100,000, in particular due to the loss of income and profits related to his former employment. He adds moral damages estimated at $35,000 as well as punitive damages, for violation of his fundamental rights, of $25,000.
Asked by email, the Air Canada group indicated that it would not make any further comment on the subject. Mr. Strahl’s office, for its part, had not responded to our questions at the time of publication.